Canaan Smith talks 'This Night Back,' remembers Troy Gentry Special

Country star Canaan Smith chatted with Digital Journal about his new single "This Night Back," and he paid tribute to the late Troy Gentry of the country duo Montgomery Gentry.

On his new single, "This Night Back," Smith said, "I wrote it with Brett James and Andrew DeRoberts. It spilled out of my mood. That guitar riffs is one of my favorite parts of the song. I think the overall vibe that it creates musically was something that I wanted to chase. We were in the room coming up with cool parts and melodies, and it felt too good not to chase down, and I did."

Last month, Smith suffered a minor health setback, debilitating abdominal pain and dehydration, but he revealed that he is all good now. "That was crazy," he recalled. "I think I came down with some crazy bug, and the night before I had to leave on a five-day run. I had to get some fluids and IVs, but we got through it. You got to do what you got to do. The show must go on!"

The country star continued, "Nobody said touring life is easy. Touring is a lot of hard work all the time. Sometimes you come up against things that are out of your control, and we just make the most out of it."

He was thrilled that up-and-coming country songstress Risa Binder listed him as her dream male duet choice. "I saw that. What a sweet girl, she is. That was really cool," he said. "That's awesome."

Smith also paid homage to the late Troy Gentry from Montgomery Gentry. "I had the opportunity to meet him when I was first new in town. I moved to town, and I didn't know a soul, except a buddy of mine who happened to work with him at the time. We got tickets to go and see Montgomery Gentry play, and my friend was able to get us to hang out with Troy before the show. I just remember him being super kind, and he was more than willing to hang out. He had a really down to earth demeanor about him. Troy was just a normal guy, who had a lot of good in him. Country music lost such a good guy," he said. "We will definitely make sure that his name lives on with his music for a long, long time."